HDA - The Night Ride by Skyhappysal Introduction

Author's Name: Skyhappysal

Title of Story: The Night Ride

Type of Story: Casefile/Halloween

Rating of Story: G

Characters in Story: F,J, various OCs

Warnings: None

Plot Blurb: An unscheduled stop in small town Maine begins the nightmare for Frank Hardy. When Joe disappears on Devil's Night in Castle Rock, Maine, Frank tries to enlist the help of the sheriff and townspeople in his search. All of who insist that Frank was alone the day he arrived.

Splash Page: That was all Frank needed to send him into a panic. The Elderbridges were a nice old couple. What if Joe's intuition had been right and Wellwood and Meyers were threats? Had the farmer's kindness brought trouble to his door? Had he and Joe been followed? But why? Had they blindly stumbled into something? Each question drove him to move faster until he was racing madly down the lane. There was something wrong. Where was Ben Elderbridge's old truck? He couldn't hear the ancient engine that sounded like an outboard motor. He was more than three-quarters of the way down the mile long path. Why couldn't he see the lights to the house? He had been able to see them from the road earlier.

The feeling of dread was so strong that he felt as if his heart was going to burst. He knew what he was going to find when he reached the house. Meyers and Wellwood. He could only pray that Joe and the Elderbridges were unharmed. He'd find a way to get them out. He had to. Planning his next move, Frank finally turned the small bend in the path that led up to the front steps of the house. What met his eyes stopped him dead in his tracks. His brain fought to make sense of what stood before him. "No!" Gasping for breath, he fell to his knees on the crushed stone and clutched the duffel bag to his chest. "Joe!

Special Notes: Thank you to JD, who offered just the right amount of encouragement and nudging to get me to finish this! For anyone new to the story, the ending was two years in the making. I stalled on it, leaving Joe and Frank stranded in the… Well, you'll have to read on to discover where. I'd also like to include here my thanks to Robin, Nancy Hardy and Rachel who did the original beta-read of Night Ride. Any remaining errors you may find are mine.

Castle Rock isn't mine, it's Stephen King's. I borrowed it and now I'm giving it back. Any names you don't recognize in this story belong to characters that are mine. If you'd like to borrow characters or situations from this story please drop me a note at red_hellion@fastmail.fm

This is my first try at HB fic. I can't really count the stories my sister and I used to write as kids. Although, I had as much fun now as I did then. Feedback, positive, negative and constructive will always be welcomed. It's the only way to learn and, perhaps, make the next story better.

Thanks for reading!

Sal